Rodgers leaves legacy of love, entrepreneurship
Advocate called ‘one in a trillion’
ReDonna Rodgers taught Abena May that being your own boss, making plans and saving money are some of the keys to being successful in life. She taught Martinez White the meaning of the word entrepreneur.
Through her organization, the Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Rodgers taught thousands of young people how to manage their lives, generate business ideas and create positive change for themselves and their communities.
“She taught us how to love one another,” said May, 19. “This woman had so much love and compassion for everybody.”
Tireless mentor, beloved sister, educator, entrepreneur and advocate, Rodgers died Aug. 31. She was 58.
From a young age, Rodgers’ family members recall her as being active, intelligent and independent.
“Her motto was ‘My life is my business, and my business is my life,’” said Rodgers’ uncle, Sidney Byas. “Anything that she put her mind to, and anything she put her hands to, she was going to be successful.”
Entrepreneurship and being one’s own boss run in Rodgers’ family, said her younger sister, Mary Flanagan. Their father was an interior and exterior decorator, and he was his own boss.
“My dad taught her about entrepreneurship, and about painting and decorating,” Flanagan said.
In 1991, a decade after moving to Milwaukee, Rodgers cofounded the Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship. She served as executive director, and during the next 25 years 19,000 young people of color in Milwaukee would participate in the center’s programs, board president Douglas Kelley said.
“ReDonna was probably one in a trillion,” Kelley said. “The mold was broken when she was made.”
In 2004, the Manhattan Institute of Public Policy in New York recognized Rodgers with its Social Entrepreneurship Award. The U.S. Small Business Administration named Rodgers a “Young Entrepreneur Champion” in 2014.
Being ‘CEO of Me’
Part of the center’s curriculum was the idea that young people should be the “CEO of Me.” Rodgers taught young people selfmanagement, customer service, record keeping and how to develop a business plan, among many other skills.
“She was the first person who taught me that I could take an idea and make a profit,” said Martinez White, 28. “This was one of those pivotal moments when I was connected to ReDonna.”
White, from Milwaukee, met Rodgers when he was in seventh grade. He participated in some of CTE’s programs, learning lessons he said helped him succeed in high school, college and beyond. He sold candy and honey buns in high school to make cash, and he started a DJ business his first year of school at UW-Madison.
Now, White is a financial specialist at UW Credit Union and he keeps his entrepreneurial fire alive with an educational production company. He also talks to students about financial responsibility and being your own boss.
“We’re going to keep carrying the torch for her,” White said of Rodgers.
The courses and seminars Rodgers organized were about more than teaching business skills, May said. CTE provided a supportive space for people to be creative and take risks.
“In Milwaukee, either you’re going to make it, or you’re not. There’s not a lot of hope,” she said. “(CTE) allowed us an opportunity to be kids again.”
Now, May is living in Atlanta, working for a marketing firm and looking forward to getting back to school in January at Georgia State University.